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A glimpse of the sublime Russborough House, Co Wicklow, Ireland A property of the Alfred Beit Foundation
Country Life UK

A glimpse of the sublime Russborough House, Co Wicklow, Ireland A property of the Alfred Beit Foundation

The redecoration of a drawing room offers a fascinating insight into the aesthetic preoccupations of Grand Tourism in the mid 18th century, as John Goodall explains

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8 mins  |
February 26, 2025
Lights, camera, action!
Country Life UK

Lights, camera, action!

Renting your house out for filming can be fun, occasionally alarming, a good revenue stream and might even increase its value, finds Annabel Dixon

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3 mins  |
February 26, 2025
A pocket of Middle England
Country Life UK

A pocket of Middle England

Idyllic Midlands counties appear to have been left alone by the hordes-all the better for those who live there

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6 mins  |
February 26, 2025
Little gems
Country Life UK

Little gems

A small space can be just as appealing as a large one. All that's required is some decorating derring-do, discovers Arabella Youens

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3 mins  |
February 26, 2025
Bay and vanilla crème brûlée custard tart with poached pears
Country Life UK

Bay and vanilla crème brûlée custard tart with poached pears

In a large bowl, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs and then stir through the icing sugar.

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2 mins  |
February 26, 2025
A brush with snowdrops
Country Life UK

A brush with snowdrops

Tilly Ware meets the artist and galanthophile John Morley in his Suffolk garden, home to the oldest snowdrop nursery in the country

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5 mins  |
February 26, 2025
My favourite painting Sir Stephen Hough
Country Life UK

My favourite painting Sir Stephen Hough

Portrait of a Carthusian by Petrus Christus

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1 min  |
February 26, 2025
What goes up, must come down
Country Life UK

What goes up, must come down

The welcome sight of a Cumbrian dry-stone wall on a murky February day offers John Lewis-Stempel solace, as he navigates the spooling, rocky path down from one of the Lake District’s cloud-capped peaks Illustration by Michael Frith

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4 mins  |
February 26, 2025
The legacy Ralph Allen and Bath
Country Life UK

The legacy Ralph Allen and Bath

THREE men are said to have created the City of Bath: Beau Nash made it fashionable, John Wood made it beautiful and Ralph Allen made it possible.

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1 min  |
February 26, 2025
An officer and a gentleman
Country Life UK

An officer and a gentleman

Once so popular they were labelled the 'English terrier', numbers of smooth fox terriers have dwindled to worrying levels. Yet these smart and charming little dogs could rival the labrador if better known, devotees tell Flora Watkins

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6 mins  |
February 26, 2025
You belong with me
Country Life UK

You belong with me

Drawing on his experiences as a troubled schoolboy, a burnt-out BBC screenwriter and an ‘awkward' parish priest, the Revd Colin Heber-Percy reflects on the value of being lost-and found in the forest of life

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4 mins  |
February 26, 2025
The electric limeade acid test
Country Life UK

The electric limeade acid test

IN early March, in the way of a stop-motion picture jump, the bleached deathliness of winter lanes are punctuated as if from nowhere with electric limeade alexanders plants.

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3 mins  |
February 26, 2025
Shaping the view
Country Life UK

Shaping the view

Shaping the view The Cart House, near Boddington, Northamptonshire A Modernist garden was exactly the right choice for this newly converted agricultural building

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4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Snakes and snails and puppy-dog tales
Country Life UK

Snakes and snails and puppy-dog tales

Two kindred spirits made it their lives’ work to collect the smallest great poems of the world’s literature’, preserving for children the nursery rhymes, games and fairy tales no longer handed down by their mothers

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4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
The ghost of golden daffodils
Country Life UK

The ghost of golden daffodils

The flower remains the national emblem of Wales, but how many today are aware of the true Welsh or Tenby daffodil

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5 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Kentish variety
Country Life UK

Kentish variety

Renovations, showjumping and archbishops lend character to two period properties

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5 mins  |
February 19, 2025
History triumphs over invention.
Country Life UK

History triumphs over invention.

A brilliantly acted historical play about two world leaders squaring up to each other outstrips two over-produced versions of Greek mythology, despite their imported Hollywood stars

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4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
The lure of Venice
Country Life UK

The lure of Venice

Vedute, the kaleidoscopic views of the maritime republic made popular by Canaletto, so enchanted the British that they not only collected them in large numbers, but soon began painting their own shimmering visions of the city

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5 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Power games and the battle for beauty
Country Life UK

Power games and the battle for beauty

The Government’s plan to cover the countryside in ugly pylons with seemingly no regard for aesthetics must be vigorously challenged

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4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Mad as a box of frogs
Country Life UK

Mad as a box of frogs

With genes that bear an uncanny resemblance to our own, our amphibious frog friends have aided medical advances and captivated many cultures with their mystical powers, discovers Ian Morton

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4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Follow the yellow brick road
Country Life UK

Follow the yellow brick road

\"IN the 100th year since the death of the man who saved the daffodil I from extinction, the RHS hopes to safeguard the bulb from the perils of a changing climate.

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1 min  |
February 19, 2025
Picasso's mystery lady
Country Life UK

Picasso's mystery lady

A MYSTERIOUS woman has been discovered A under underneath Picasso's Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto (1901).

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1 min  |
February 19, 2025
Centuries of starlight
Country Life UK

Centuries of starlight

ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH has been awarded a £1.25 million grant from to transform the visitor experience at the Royal Observatory.

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1 min  |
February 19, 2025
A sense of delight
Country Life UK

A sense of delight

The Aldourie estate, Inverness-shire The process of stitching together the architectural fabric of a Scottish estate has created an outstanding group of new and restored buildings, as John Goodall explains

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7 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Capital Roman legacy
Country Life UK

Capital Roman legacy

THE remains of London's original Roman THE remains of London's original Roman development of No 85, Gracechurch Street, London EC3.

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2 mins  |
February 19, 2025
A leap in the dark
Country Life UK

A leap in the dark

The primal play of light and shadow, whether in Leonardo's ever-so-subtle sfumato or Caravaggio's dramatic contrasts, has shaped Western art, as Michael Hall reveals

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6 mins  |
February 12, 2025
Beauty and the blimp
Country Life UK

Beauty and the blimp

Inflammable airships may be gone, but a new hybrid aircraft, capable of delivering eco-friendly aviation, is set to take to the skies with a bang, finds Charles Harris

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3 mins  |
February 12, 2025
Three wishes for food and farming
Country Life UK

Three wishes for food and farming

Royal hedge planting, the terrible toll on Ukrainian farming and a maiden speech

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3 mins  |
February 12, 2025
Seeing the wood for the trees
Country Life UK

Seeing the wood for the trees

Scotland's much-evolved forestry industry has become a focus for clever investors

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4 mins  |
February 12, 2025
Let's fall in love
Country Life UK

Let's fall in love

Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. Laura Parker finds that, when it comes to creatures mating for life, persistence, patience and a little dad dancing are key to success

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4 mins  |
February 12, 2025